The debut full-length album of the one and only Nortt (literally one and only, it's a one man band). Nortt.... Even the very band's name send chills down my spine. That's a part of what awaits you in this album. The sense of fear, as well as desperation, the sense of futility of life, of existence.

Gudsforladt - Godforsaken. The music here is very true to the name. You will feel like you are being abandoned by everyone and everything, that you have been left to endure that horrible pain called life alone. Nihilism and misanthropy incarnate.

The music itself here is very difficult to describe. The drumming is very simple and basically it's just striking those drums every once in a while. Vocals are really morbid and haunting, the stuff of nightmares. Guitars are really heavily distorted and have that scratchy sound. What Nortt does with them can hardly be called riffing on some tracks, which feature just striking the guitar strings at different times (similar to drums). On others he uses that distortion to create really dark and beautiful melodies (Nattetale, for example). Piano is ever-prominent, always there in the background playing a really slow and depressing melody. A perfect fit with the guitars. It's really amazing how something that's so simple and non-technical as Nortt's music can create such an atmosphere, invoke such feelings. Even the Intro (Graven) and Outro (Dystret Synd), which are performed solely on the piano have that same atmosphere.
After Graven, I almost feel like crying.

Gudsforladt is by no means music that you can play in the background, while doing something else. In order to achieve it's full potential, you must close your eyes, concentrate solely on it and let it carry you to the darkest corners of your mind.

Nortt is the only band I've heard to create something like this. Highly recommended to all Doom Metal lovers, although this is definitely not classic Doom. In fact, this original approach is what should drive you even more to get this album, and certainly a reason to commend Nortt. The only problem is, how long can he keep making music like this?

Yes, this is a great album! I was fortunate to get an official version of the CD, as it was limited to 1,000 copies. Some of these songs also appear on the Graven demo (which was also released on CD) but in a different form. I think your review has captured the desolate feel of this album very well.

That's some spooky shit indeed! A quite relevant review, then.
However, production wasn't worth more than a 6, to my opinion. This scratchy sound you were telling about reminds me a bit of Marduk's, and I'm not sure it's such a good point.

I find Nortt an easy band to recommend for people looking to get into funeral doom. They aren't overly burdensome but they aren't in that melodic/accessible branch like Shape of Despair and Remembrance.

I find Nortt an easy band to recommend for people looking to get into funeral doom. They aren't overly burdensome but they aren't in that melodic/accessible branch like Shape of Despair and Remembrance.

+1, I'm still a noob with the genre, but this and Ahab were both very easy listens.